>> welcome to "journal" coming to you from dw in berlin. >> here's what's coming up in this program -- an egyptian draft constitution that gives the central role to islam in state affairs causes tens of thousands of protest. >> the german parliament approves billions in loans and guarantees to save greece from bankruptcy. >> with more and more shoppers seeking out handcrafted and traditional gifts, germany's famous christmas markets struggled to keep up with the demand.

tens of thousands of egyptians are out protesting against president morsi at this hour after an islamist-led assembly raced through the approval of a new constitution, a move to end the crisis. >> the document is based on sharia law. critics say it ignores fundamental democratic principles and marginalizes the nation's large christian populations. it has set the stage for conflict in a more increasingly divided nation. >> opponents of the president are outraged at the document adopted by the assembly. protesters are maintaining a vigil, and demonstrations are growing. critics warn that egypt is fast becoming an islamic state.

>> hosni mubarak never divided the egyptian people. now, there is president morsi, and we do not know if he is the president of egypt or the president of the muslim brotherhood. >> islamists who dominate the assembly have already answered that question -- the body signed off on all 234 articles of the constitution, which is based upon the principles of sharia or islamic law. the constitution maintains sharia as the main source of legislation. it also gives women no guarantee of equal rights, since the rights must conform with sharia. religious leaders will also be able to directly influence egyptian legislation in the future. secular and christian representatives boycotted the vote. they had already withdrawn from the assembly weeks ago. in a television interview, morsi

again tried to appease the opposition forces. he said the sweeping forces to granted himself last week will only remain until a constitution goes into effect, but that is not enough for his opponents who have vowed to keep on protesting. >> those protests have been growing steadily all day. let's bring now our correspondent live from cairo. just how divided is -- right now? is there any common ground at all between the muslim brotherhood in egypt's secular and christian communities? >> the common ground seems to be really a difficult thing these days. we will have two demonstrations in cairo tomorrow. protesters will stay overnight in tahrir square. these of the leftist activists. on the other side, we see the

muslim brotherhood on the western side of the line. this will be basically a simple tomorrow of how polarized the country is in this latest decision, and by pushing through this constitution, of course, divided the country even more. >> briefly, it could, the president has talked about a referendum on the constitution. could that end this crisis? >> it will probably not end the crisis because people have the choice to say yes to the constitution, or they can say no to the constitution. the president will continue to have this right, it is kind of a no-win situation for the liberals. >> thanks so very much.

egypt's old constitution also gave islam a special role in society, so what is the difference between it and the new document? i put that question to an expert on constitutional law in the middle east. >> i think it is important to stress that the decisive article says -- it was an element in the previous constitution. some elements of legislation that existed were now elevated into constitutional status. i will give you one example. you have the recognition that there were only three recognized fates -- christianity, judaism, and islam. that has never been written into the constitution. it has now, and it is bad news for religious freedom for those who are not part of that faith. overall, i would say that the constitution is more islamic, but it will depend very much how

it was implemented. >> what about how this was drafted? the speed with which it was pushed through? do you think that could be a problem if it actually comes into force? >> i think there are two problems with the speed of adoption. one is simply a technical concern. it is hard to elaborate such a complex document in such a short time, and any technical mistake you make now can turn into massive political problems later. i am concerned in particular about the arrangements of the system of government, etc. the political problem is that it narrows the process very much to the ruling party. those who backed it up and created a process that was not consentual at all, and to create a constitution on such a narrow basis is certainly not a guarantee for stability in the future. >> a lot of forces are coming together against morsi.

is this a battle the president can win? >> the judiciary is a formidable opponent to have. the supreme constitutional court will meet on sunday, and it will be very interesting to watch what they have to say about the situation. on a technical level, he needs the judges also to run the referendum because they are an integral part of the election administration. he really has to win over large parts of the judiciary to make it happen from a technical standpoint. in the short term, he will have real trouble. >> thanks so very much. >> palestinians have been celebrating their recognition by the united nations general assembly. an overwhelming majority made palestine a non-member state. that is the same as the vatican. >> only a handful of countries

voted against the move, including the u.s. and israel. both threaten to sanction palestinian request. israel today announced the construction of 3000 more settler homes in response. >> many hope it will be for step toward independence and true statehood. >> life remains the same in the palestinian territories, but many say the united nations vote has given them a new outlook. >> it is a beautiful feeling. there's hope that our children will grow up in an independent nation with its own voice, and that is a feeling that is hard to describe it. >> the decision came after a powerful appeal by the palestinian authority president in new york. >> the general assembly is called upon today to issue a birth certificate of the reality of the state of palestine. >> 138 generally assembly -- general assembly members voted in favor of upgrading palestine

to the status of nonmember observers say. israel opposed the status change, saying the resolution will not help further the peace process. >> the truth is nothing will change if they continue to boycott israel and boycott peace talks. that is the only way to move forward. >> as a further response to the vote, israel has revealed plans for thousands of new settlement homes in east jerusalem and the west bank. >> agrees is exhaling today after the german parliament voted in support of providing the country with the next installment of bailout money. the deal is worth some 44 billion euros. >> germany's finance minister has defended the package, saying that a greek bankruptcy would be a major blow to the world economy. >> rescuing greece has been a main priority for the government, the citizens want to know -- what will it cost? >> an overwhelming majority bank of the measures, although the

opposition left party voted no. there is still a sense of unease among lawmakers about the cost to taxpayers. the finance minister sought to calm the doubts. >> we are pursuing a policy that restructure's degree budget and economy with as few costs and risks as possible for both germany and your -- europe. it is our goal and must remain our goal that greece at some point must shoulder its debts on its own and that the markets accept greece as a creditor. >> athens still has a long way to go before that happens. german lawmakers acknowledge the sacrifices greeks have already made and understand the ongoing protests. the necessary measures are hitting a lot of people hard. the new bailout package is worth 44 billion euros. germany will bear 730 million of that in the coming year. the opposition accuses the government of misleading the public about the true cost of

helping greece. they say it will be necessary to restructure the debt. >> everyone knows that greece is bankrupt and that it cannot service such huge debt, and everyone knows that nothing will change in the long term and that the situation will only get worse with every year and every austerity package, and that is why the debt will have to be written off eventually, and that is going to be very expensive for germany. >> the opposition says a debt write off will have to happen, and say the finance minister is not coming clean about the cost to taxpayers. >> in washington, budgets have stalled again just months before what has become known as the infamous fiscal cliff. president obama appeared at a factory in pennsylvania making his case for raising taxes on

top earners and accusing a handful of republicans of holding up a deal. if a deal is not reached by december 31, a $600 billion combination of tax increases and spending cuts goes into effect. let's get a check now on how the markets reacted to all of that news. our correspondence sent us this report from frankfurt. >> the dax climbed for about 2% this week, and share prices have been pushed mainly by the rescue package for greece, but at this last trading day of the week, trading has been quite low. the positive trend continued, although there has been some bad news coming in, like the record high unemployment rate in the euro area and the fact that u.s. consumers spend less money in october.

nevertheless, the mood is fine. investors hope the fiscal cliff in the u.s.a. can be avoided. >> let's get a closer look at friday's trading. with all that uncertainty in washington, traders were playing it cautious. in germany, the blue-chip dax broke a bit of a winning streak, only gaining fractionally. euro stoxx 50 was down on the day. in new york, trading is still under way. it is also not really doing a whole lot today. as for the euro against the dollar, it is above that key $1.30 level, trading for $ 1.3002. unemployment in the eurozone climbed to yet another record in october. and 11.7% of the working age population, about 19 million people, are without a job. in spain, that means one in every four people are out looking for work and a dependent on state aid. >> but it is not all bad news. ireland has managed to turn its major recession around and is

now posting gains thanks to a lifeline from the e you. >> two years ago, ireland receive more than 67 billion euros from the eu bailout fund, and the money appears to have helped. the government was able to sink its annual deficit from 32% to 8.5% of gdp, and it is paying much lower interest on government bonds, and the irish economy is growing. only unemployment remains stubbornly high. in october, the jobless rate was still above the eurozone average at 14.7%, but in countries hard hit by the euro crisis, there were even more people out of work, and an increase, and employment is one of 25%. in spain, 26% were one in two young people is out of work. things are not quite that grim in italy, but more and more young people are looking for work. the youth unemployment rate is 36%, the highest since june

2004. >> we have to take a short break, but when we come back, december 1 is world aids day. we will be taking a look at the problem of hiv/aids. >> and what is germany going to do with all its nuclear waste? stay with us for that.

>> thanks for staying with us. >> welcome back. one of the consequences of the breakdown of public services in the wake of the economic crisis in greece is a sharp spike up people they're infected with aids. >> on the eve of world aids day, officials are warning infection rate could get out of control unless action is taken. >> but as a new report just issued by the united nations shows, there is encouraging news. there's been a large reduction in the amount of new cases in southern africa. >> education campaigns and easier access to medicines have paid off in the battle against hiv. the number of people newly infected with the virus has dropped by 70% in malawi,

botswana, and namibia in the past decade. the hiv infection rate is also slowing worldwide. in 2001, 3.3 million people contracted hiv. by 2011, the number had dropped to 2.5 million. that is around 20% fewer infections. better and more effective drugs have also meant far fewer people are dying from aids. in 2005, the number stood at 2.2 million worldwide. that fell to 1.7 million in 2011, a 24% drop. >> the pace of progress is a quickening. what used to take a decade is now being achieved in just 24 months. an upbeat news from you and aids, though it warns that sub- saharan africa remains the region in the world worst hit by hiv. 34 million people are affected

by hiv around the globe. 23 million live in sub-saharan africa. in some areas, hiv is a growing threat. in eastern europe, central asia and north africa, infection rates are going up since public discussion of the issue is virtually nonexistent. high risk groups such as drug addicts are ostracized. aids remains a political issue. as long as governments around the world deny the disease and its causes, it will continue to spread. >> kenya is among the countries in africa that have experienced a dramatic fall in the number of deaths resulting from hiv/aids. >> a decade ago, the prevalence rate was close of 15%. it is now at about 6.5%, but that is still high by international standards, and that is not only what prevention wants to change, but treatment is also extremely important. >> here is one german company that is making a difference not

only in kenya but all over africa. >> rowland has been to kenya many times, but this is his first visit to the slum in nairobi. around 90,000 people live here. medicine is scarce, and there are only 20 basic doctor surgery to treat those with hiv. is the head of the biotech company that does business with medical centers like this one. he knows how urgently the center needs support. the charity called german doctors gives free treatment to 300 patients here every day. many of them are hiv-positive. they used equipment made by his company to test for the virus. he has brought a gift for the medical center -- a mobile testing machine worth 7000 euros. the device will allow doctors to test patients in remote areas. it is solar powered.

memo we are a family company. we have been going for 45 years. we can allow ourselves different priorities to companies driven by investors and shareholders. basically, we can make smaller profits, and we have the advantage of making good money in developed countries. that allows us to take on a charity role here. >> as well as testing for hiv, the machine can give information on what dose of drugs a patient needs. a couple of drops of blood are enough all along with the pipette and test tube, which cost around two euros. the test is done in under two minutes. a few years ago, doctors had to send every blood sample to a lab and wait days for a result. the company has already sold around 300 of the devices in east africa. they have six staff in nairobi

who are responsible for maintaining the, but it is not just about business. he wants to help the organizations that give free treatment to aids patients. >> one of the main things for us is that we get the feeling that the help we give goes directly to benefiting patients. >> his visit allows him to see firsthand what kind of difference his devices are making to the lives of people here. >> coming up, this weekend is the first of advent, which means christmas markets are opening here in germany. >> some of us have to buy some gifts, but in the meantime, a look at some other stories making headlines right now. tunisia's islamist prime minister has rejected calls to resign after more violent protests. hundreds of people attacked a police station in a northern province. the region has seen three days of violent demonstrations over economic hardship. more than 300 people have been

injured. >> a newspaper in germany says the government is planning to increase the support given to asylum seekers. it is the first race since 1993 and results from a court order, but the support will come as food, goods, and services, and not as cash. >> nasa scientists say they found ice on mercury. the planet that is closest to the sun. the frozen water is at the polls, which are almost permanently in shadow. the information was delivered by the messenger spacecraft, which landed on mercury last year. >> in germany, a nuclear waste site that has been at the center of often violent protests is seeing and hauled in exploratory work there. the decision was handed down by the environment minister. >> and it should clear the way for talks on a final storage site for germany's nuclear waste. politicians hope to reach across party consensus before the next elections.

>> plans to exploit the potential for a permanent nuclear waste storage facility have been put on hold until after the lower saxony state elections in january. politicians hope the delay will aid the search for a storage solution all parties support. >> there will be no more exploration of the site until after the election. my goal is to discontinue the work there for good. instead, we should come up with plans for a nationwide storage facility which all the parties can agree on. >> he hopes to push through legislation before next easter that would fund an open-ended search for a new storage facility. opposition parties previously called for talks to be postponed. now they are expressing willingness to cooperate. >> we are looking for a solution, and this is the sensible thing to do rather than turning it into a political campaign issue. we also need to be wary of false information.

but if the talks fail, the nuclear storage debate will almost certainly feature in german national elections scheduled for next fall. >> germany is looking increasingly likely to push for a ban on the far right npd party. >> lower saxony has supported a host to join a host of states that support a constitutional and and to outlaw the group. it is described as racist -- the group is described as racist and estimate. an attempt to ban the party 10 years ago failed after it emerged that leading members of the group were paid police informers. germany continues preparations for its withdrawal from afghanistan. >> and to give up its most dangerous based in 2013. at the moment, some 1100 german soldiers are stationed there. an observation post will also close in the coming year. it is currently home to 600 soldiers.

final withdrawal of german combat troops is scheduled for 2014, but at least 1000 soldiers will remain behind for training purposes. this sunday is the beginning of advent, the season of spiritual preparation for christians that peace with christmas. in a number of european countries including german, it also marks the opening of the traditional christmas markets. >> for centuries, they've been the best place to find that unique handcrafted gift for someone you love, and they are also the place to get immersed in the spirit of the season. as our next report shows, this season is seeing a return to the joys of the past and the natural world. >> the fire is crackling. the mood is almost meditative at the christmas markets in berlin. stand owners to play with figures like these to accent the rustic look. christmas market trend this year seems to be a return to nature. another trend -- and increased focus on the origin of the food

served. the recipe for this buckwheat pancakes is from france. the organic eggs sourced locally. regionalization and globalization at the same time. the finished mulled wine index is steadily climbing. more sophisticated, source will feel right at home here. the one-euro entry price will not be much of a financial setback to anyone dining here. a one-star chef serves gourmet specialties, and the dancers are a far cry from a traditional manger scene. not to mention the products. this necklace costs 480 euros. or how about an ivory tusk from an extinct mammoth? the specialty products for sale make the markets popular with international customers. >> a lot of things are handmade and not chinese. >> we have one in manchester.

i wanted to see what the difference was. much better. >> christmas markets are a big draw for tourists and locals alike. this year's offerings are sure to delight a variety of pallets and budgets. and if there was any doubt, winter has most definitely arrived in germany. >> oh, yes, it has appeared the first bill falls in the country south and east have caused traffic chaos and a number of accidents. cars had to drive at a snail's pace, and trucks had to go of hills on some slippery slopes. that is all for now. thanks for joining us. >> we will see you next time. captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org--